Metallic skewback for furnace roofs



May 23', 1961 c. J. BARKLEY 2,985,121

METALLIC SKEWBACK FOR FURNACE ROOFS Original Filed Jan. 22, 1953 2 Sheets-Sheet 1 lNl/E/VTOR CHARLES J. BARKLEY Attorney May 23, 1961 c. J. BARKLEY 2,985,121

METALLIC SKEWBACK FOR FURNACE ROOFS Original Filed Jan. 22, 1953 2 Sheets-Sheet 2 Iowan/01":

ilnited States Patent M METALLIC SKEWBA'CK FOR FURNACE ROOFS Charles J. Barkley, Orem, Utah, assignor to United States Steel Corporation, a corporation of New Jersey Original application Jan. 22, "1953, Ser. No. 332,645,

new Patent No. 2,822,768, dated Feb. 11, 1958. Divided and this application Feb. 5, 1957, Ser. No. 638,320

2 Claims. (Cl. 110-99) This invention which is a division of my copending application Serial No. 332,645, filed January 22, 1953, now Patent No. 2,822,768 dated February 11, 1958, relates to a metallic skewback for sprung arch refractory roofs and especially to such skewbacks for use on open hearths and other heating furnaces. In an open hearth furnace the front part of the roof is ordinarily arranged so that the skewback is in substantially a single plane. This is not true of the back part of the furnace since the furnace has a maximum width at the main laboratory section of the furnace and gradually decreases in width through the transition portion to the knuckle portion of the furnace roof. The width remains the same from the knuckle portion to the end of the furnace but the height of the roof increases between the knuckle portion and the roof over the ports. The usual support for the arched roof consists of a water cooled skewback beam fastened to the inside of the buckstays which supports special shaped skewback bricks. A large number of different shapes of skewback bricks are required in the transition and sloping portions of the roof. This'requires stocking a great number of special shapes which is an expensive proposition and requires a great deal of storage space. Since the skewback bricks have special shapes which vary with the span, rise and radius of the refractory arch, they are more expensive than bricks of standard shape. The use of water in close proximity to the heated refractory is objectionable since the water sometimes comes in contact with the heated refractory bricks causing them to spell. This makes it necessary to take the furnace out of production until the damage is repaired. Since the standard skewback beam is close to the intense heat of the furnace it is normally necessary to replace it after each campaign of a furnace roof. Since the roofs require the use of bricks of various shapes in the confined space between the top and bottom flanges of the usual skewback beam the work of repairing the roof is slow. Since the skewback bricks are located above the refractory walls of the furnace and since this is a common place of failure it often becomes necessary to replace the brick work at this point before the vertical wall burns through to the danger point.

It is therefore an object of my invention to provide an air cooled metallic skewback for refractory brick sprung arches which eliminates the use of special skewback bricks and protects the skewback beams from the heat of the furnace.

This and other objects will be more apparent after referring to the following specification and attached drawings, in which:

Figure l is a plan view of an open hearth furnace;

Figure 2 is an enlarged sectional view taken on the line IIII of Figure 1;

Figure 3 is a top plan view of the transition skewback support;

Figure 4 is a plan view of the bottom part of the skewback support of Figure 3;

2,985,121 Patented May 23, 1961 Figure 5 is a sectional view taken on the line V--V of Figure 3; and I Figure 6 is an elevation of the skewback support of Figure 5 taken in the direction of the arrow 6.

Referring more particularly to Figures 1 and 2 of the drawings, reference numeral 2 indicates a section of a heating furnace such as an open hearth furnace. The

furnace 2 has two vertical refractory brick walls 4 and a sprung arch 6. Buckstays 8 and 10 are provided on each side of the furnace and extend upwardly along the side walls. The buckstays 8-, which in the open hearth furnace shown are located in the main laboratory portion of the furnace, have a portion (12 thereof bent outwardly and upwardly from the adjacent side wall. A beam 14 extends, between adjacent buckstays 8 along the side wall 4 and is positioned entirely outside of the side wall. The ends of the beams 14 are attached to the buckstays 8 by means of a bracket 16 which may be T or angle shaped. -As shown the beam 14 is an H-beam having one half of its outer flange cut away and the other flange 18 arranged at substantially the same angle as the inner face of the bent portion 12 of the buckstays 8. A steel skewback plate 20 is fastened to the flange 18 preferably by means of bolts, not shown. It will be seen that the plate 20 extends upwardly and outwardly at an angle from a point adjacent the top outside face of the adjacent refractory wall 4. A rod 21 is welded to the bottom of each of the plates 20 at the spring line of the arch. Refractory bricks 22 of standard shape may be used to make up the entire arch 6 with the bottom of the first of said bricks resting on the rod 21. Since the skewback beam 14 is completely outside of the furnace and since the arch '6 begins at the outside face of the wall 4 it is possible for the walls 4 to burn almost completely through before leakage occurs between the walls and the arch. This is not true in the usual furnace construction. The beam 14 will not be damaged by heat and it is normally necessary only to replace the plate 20.

The arrangement of the transition skewback support is shown in Figures 3 through 6 and is the subject of the present invention. A skewback beam 24 extends between and is fastened to buckstays 26 and 26' in any suitable manner. Beam 24 has a lower flange 27 connected to an upper flange 28 by means of a web 32. Holes 36 are preferably made in the web 32 to provide for better cooling. A series of steel plates 38 are fastened to the bottom flange 27 and a series of steel plates 40 are fastened to the top flange 28 one directly above each of the plates 38. A steel skewback plate 42 is fastened to each of the bottom plates 38 and extends upwardly and is fastened to the plate 40 directly thereabove. The skewback plates 42 extend upwardly and outwardly at an angle from a point adjacent the top outside face of the adjacent refractory wall and are arranged so as to form inwardly extending steps. A rod 44 is welded to the bottom of each of the plates 42 at the spring line of the arch. Standard shaped bricks 46 bear against the plat 42 to form the arch with the bottom of the first of said bricks being supported by the rod 44. Each plate 42 is of sufiicient width to form a support for one brick 46.

While one embodiment of my invention has been shown and described it will be apparent that other adaptations and modifications may be made without departing from the scope of the following claims.

I claim:

1. In a furnace havin-g spaced refractory sidewalls and a sprung refractory arch extending between said sidewalls, one of said sidewalls converging toward the other of said sidewalls longitudinally of the furnace, and spaced apart buckstays extending upwardly along said converging sidewall; the improvement comprising a beam extending between and fastened to said buckstays and positioned' entirely outside of said converging sidewall, said beam having top and bottom flanges connected by a web, a series of inwardly extending plates fastened to the top flange, the longitudinal axis of each plate being at an acute angle to the longitudinal axis of said web and said plates being parallel to each other, a series of inwardly extending plates fastened to the bottom flange, the longitudinal axis of each'of said last named plates being at an acute angle to the longitudinal axis of said web and each of said last named plates being directly below and parallel to a corresponding plate of the first named series of plates, the bottom plates extending inwardly a greater distance than the plate directly thereabove, and a skewback plate fastened to each of said bottom plates and extending upwardly and fastened to the top plate directly thereabove, each of said skewback plates extending upwardly and outwardly in a plane parallel to the axis of the radius of curvature of said arch.

2. In a furnace having spaced refractory sidewalls and a sprung refractory arch extending between said sidewalls, one of said sidewalls converging toward the other of said sidewalls longitudinally of the furnace, and spaced apart buckstays extending upwardly along said converging sidewall; the improvement comprising a beam extending between and fastened to said buckstays and positioned entirely outside of said converging sidewall, said beam having top and bottom flanges connected by a web, a series of inwardly extending plates fastened to the top flange, the longitudinal axis of each plate being at an acute angle to the longitudinal axis of said web and said plates being parallel to each other, a series of inwardly extending plates fastened to the bottom flange, the longitudinal axis of each of said last named plates being at an acute angle to the longitudinal axis of said web and each of said last named plates being directly below and parallel to a corresponding plate of the first named series of plates, the bottom plates extending inwardly a greater distance than the plate directly thereabove, and a skewback plate fastened to each of said bottom plates and extending upwardly and fastened to the top plate directly thereabove, each of said skewback plates extending upwardly and outwardly in a plane parallel to the axis of the radius of curvature of said arch, the web of said beam having spaced apart openings therein.

References Cited in the file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS 1,989,834 Watson Feb. 5, 1935 2,386,565 Nissim Oct. 9, 1945 2,472,954 Moore June 14, 1949 2,509,029 Antill May 23, 1950 

